A gunman shot dead six people and then himself at a birthday party in Colorado Springs in the United States on Sunday. File photo: Maurício Mascaro/Pexels
A GUNMAN walked in at a birthday party and shot dead six people and then himself in Colorado Springs in the United States on Sunday, police said.
The shooting took place at the Canterbury Mobile home park where families had gathered in one trailer to celebrate, a statement posted on the Colorado Springs Police Department website said.
“The suspect, a boyfriend of one of the female victims, drove to the residence, walked inside and began shooting people at the party before taking his own life,” the statement said.
“Officers located six deceased adults and one adult male with serious injuries who was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.”
The Denver Post newspaper quoted Freddy Marquez as saying he had attended the party and all the victims were members of the same extended family who were celebrating the birthdays of his wife and her brother.
He said his family left the party early because his wife had to work early the next morning. She woke up around 4 am to get ready for work and saw missed calls.
“She lost her mother and two brothers in the shooting,” Marquez said.
“It’s just crazy, it’s not what we expected on Mother’s Day. I’m at a loss for words.”
In a statement posted on Twitter, Colorado Governor Jared Polis described the shooting as devastating, “especially as many of us are spending the day celebrating the women in our lives who have made us the people we are today”.
“Multiple lives were taken today by this terrible act of violence. Families torn apart, and at a birthday party no less,’’ read the tweet.
British public broadcaster BBC noted that in March, 10 people were killed in a mass shooing inside a grocery store in Boulder in the state of Colorado.
It said the attack at a King Soopers market ended when police arrested the lone suspect after an exchange of gunfire.